Stokes 102 - Humanities Center

Description

This interdisciplinary symposium will be held on the 10th anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq as a venue to examine multiple dimensions of the decade-long occupation. Despite the US Army's official withdrawal from the country, the US presence in Iraq as a military, economic and political force continues to loom large. Baghdad is home to the largest US embassy in the world. An enormous body of private security and other contractors remain in the country. The institutions installed by the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority since 2003 will continue to have far-reaching impact on the future of Iraq. Apart from military operations and sectarian violence, subversive aspects of the war and occupation, and the repercussions on Iraq have received little attention: the occupation of Iraq is the United States' Forgotten War.

The symposium approaches the invasion of Iraq in a historical and global context, whereby American empire, since the Cold War, attempted to control the politics and the resources of the country as well as the region. It brings together scholars who have been thinking, and writing, about the war from different perspectives, including oil, empire, perception of the Iraqi society, and the impact of wars on Iraq among others.